Santa Clara County contract update: We have Tentative Agreement

Update – August 4, 2011Read more details about the Tentative Agreement here (PDF) and find out why the Negotiating Team is recommending a YES VOTE. If you have more questions, come to today’s meeting at 6 p.m., 2302 Zanker Road, and get your questions answered.

The Negotiating Team reached a tentative agreement today at 6:30 a.m. after pulling a marathon negotiating session Tuesday through Wednesday morning.

Thanks to all the hard work of our members and Contract Action Team, we had the strength at the table to reach a fair and equitable agreement given the tough economy and tough budget climate.

Yes, the Tentative Agreement includes tough cuts such as 10 furlough days the first year and 4 furlough days the second year.

But overall, WE BEAT BACK huge draconian cuts that management proposed back in April:

* WE BEAT BACK a 6% permanent wage reductions
* WE BEAT BACK 3 years of step increase freezes
* WE BEAT BACK 7% increase in contribution to retirement
* WE BEAT BACK A lower retirement plan for new hires
* WE BEAT BACK $25 co-pays for Kaiser and Health Net
* WE BEAT BACK premium payments for Kaiser and increased premium payments for Health Net
* WE BEAT BACK cuts to retiree health benefits
* WE BEAT BACK weaker overtime rules
* WE BEAT BACK contributing $51.40 per pay period into our retiree medical costs

Our Negotiating Team unanimously recommends a Yes Vote to pass what we consider a fair and equitable contract.

Many members will have questions and want additional details on the Tentative Agreement. Negotiating Team members will be at the voting site to address all questions. Due to the short timeline, the Tentative Agreement document (with all i’s dotted and t’s crossed) will be made available to all members on the voting day – and sooner if at all possible.

Our ratification vote is this Saturday, August 6, from 12 – 6 p.m. We specifically set this time to accommodate the various concerns about weekend works shifts. There will be rotating presentations about the Tentative Agreement every hour starting at Noon.

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Beat back from what?…what are the actual cuts? 14 furlough days is obscene….and are they to be taken during a fiscal year 11/12 or do we have to take 10 days before December 31,2011? New employees should be started at a lower salary to help subsidise furlough days…..

Hi, can members review the detail contract before voting? Above is just a tentative agreement and can be changed so members would want to see exactly what are we voting for to vote yes or no. Thank you.

Read more details about the Tentative Agreement in the document posted above, and find out why the Negotiating Team is recommending a YES VOTE. If you have more questions, come to today’s meeting at 6 p.m., 2302 Zanker Road, and get your questions answered.

The “document above” does NOTHING to explain the text of the agreement. POST THE ENTIRE TEXT ON THE WEBSITE so we can review it and formulate our OWN opinions and questions…or does the union “leadership” fear that if members have the opportunity to review the actual text of the agreement they will see how raw of a deal this REALLY is?

I am thankful for all your hard work and all that you have accomplished at the bargaining table but it somehow still doesn’t feel right or fair. The upper management were able to get a pay raise and seems they got a “better deal” and all the cuts come at our cost. What happened to all of us who agreed that we would stand together and fight this injustice. I feel we should strike because because voting Yes for the new contract is saying that we are ok with them cutting from the bottom and allowing them to be biased.

Would love to come to the meeting, and also to vote, unfortunately I work in the South County, do not finish worj until 6PM, am on call all night and due to County rules, cannot go anywhere in the County vehicle. Why are there no concessions for voting in South County for the employees who live and work there. Everything always has to be in San Jose. Our department gets ignored all the time anyways as there are only 4 of us and we have not even had a Steward for 5 years, and we have not seen a rep for more than a year. I am getting really fed up with the way we are treated.

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